The Age Of Enlightenment

Documenting The Lives Of Centenarians Is An Educational Experience

On Both Sides Of The Camera

April 09, 2000|By William Hageman, Tribune Staff Writer.

Peter had numerous jobs -- he worked in a dairy in his native Alabama and in an ice cream cone factory on Chicago's West Side, ran a chicken and fruit farm in Michigan, was a cement finisher, a chauffeur and drove a delivery truck for a laundry. He and Cornelia married in 1915, a marriage that came to a close on Feb. 24 when she suddenly was taken ill and died. He still lives in the Birchwood Plaza Nursing Center in Chicago.

"And my mind is good," Peter interjects with a laugh. "I think about good-looking women and good whiskey."

And he can recall things. From the Depression ("It was hell, but I didn't have it too bad because the guys I was working for were very good to me") to past presidents ("I remember Hoover, Carter, Johnson. . .Wilson") to baseball (he didn't like Babe Ruth, and says that Negro League legend Satchel Paige was the greatest pitcher he ever saw).

In addition to passing on their stories, these centenarians can serve as an inspiration.

Latham cites a man in Los Angeles who started lifting weights at 100 and has begun throwing the shot and lawn bowling ("He says he feels much better at 104 than he did at 100," Latham says). Another man learned to read at 98 and wrote his first book at 102.

"These people are doorways to past history," Carson says, "but they're still very much part of our present. To see the quality of life for people 100 and over -- it's so rich; they live every day like it's special. That's an amazing place to be in."

"One of the things I take from a lot of my older friends," Maltin says, "is the understanding or belief that living in the present is really important. As you get older, you can exist in the past, but I don't think it's healthy. And I think it makes you old. If you want to stay young, young in mind, you have to stay active, and you have to keep up with what's happening now."

And if these centenarians can't inspire others through what they've done and seen or through how they're living, they can always pass along some advice for the younger generations.

Peter Wilson is quick to offer some for today's youth:

"Stay off dope. And alcohol," he says. "Obey your mother and father, and do unto others as you'd have them do unto you. Practice the lessons of the Bible. That's the advice I'd give them.

"Of course, they wouldn't accept it; no, they wouldn't want that."

That's the wisdom of the ages talking.

CENTENARIAN FACTS

There are an estimated 450,000 centenarians in the world, 70,000 of them in the United States. Here are a few facts about them and their world:

- In 1900, the average life expectancy was 47 years; today it's 76.

- In 1900, there were only 4,000 cars in the world; today there are more than 55 million.

- The heart of a centenarian has beat an average of 3.5 billion times.

- A typical centenarian has consumed more than 45,000 pounds of food during his or her lifetime.

- Today's centenarians were born before television, refrigerators, electric washers and dryers, the zipper, radio and ballpoint pens.